Mount Takao

Yesterday I went to the mountains west of Tokyo to do some hiking.  It was a cold, clear day... perfect for catching views of Mount Fuji.  I went to Takao-san (Mount Takao) by train, less than 45 minutes from Setagaya on the Keio Line.  There are many different trails to ascend 600m high Takao-san, ranging from trail 1, a wide paved trail that passes sacred shrines and temples and carries many visitors, to trail 6, which is less travelled and follows a valley route and then a steep climb.  I actually chose a non-numbered trail called Inariyama Trail, which ascends a ridge of Takao-san.  It was quite busy at the start of the trail with a group of school children but eventually thinned out.  The top of Takao-san was packed with hundreds of people who had walked trail 1 or ascended by cable car or chair lift.  The highlight for me was hiking past Takao-san to Shiro-yama, another mountain peak about 45 minutes farther along the trail.  There were less people here, good views of Mount Fuji, and a mountain hut that served oden (hot pot), mushroom soup, drip coffee, and cold beer!

Happy New Year

Happy 2017 everybody! At year-end (nenmatsu) in Japan many people hang pine boughs outside their homes for good luck.  That's what we did outside our studio apartment as did many of our neighbours.  The shrines and temples were very busy yesterday (New Year's Day) and still today on the 2nd.  The streets are also busy with people walking but many businesses are closed.  Daily life doesn't fully return to normal until January 3rd or 4th.

Sign here... Ooops!

A little bit of historical humour in this post. The document below is the Instrument of Surrender signed by Japan and the Allied Powers on 2 September 1945, in which Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers and officially ended the Pacific Theater of WWII.

A historically important document to say the least. Now, on to the funny part. Where is Canada's signature? It's not there? Huh? They were most certainly one of the Allied nations and there's even a spot for them to sign. Look a little closer. Canada's representative signed on the wrong line!  This forced France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand to scratch out the next country's name and sign on the wrong line, all of which required initialization.  A silly mistake at a very important moment in history.  Was it jet lag, nervousness, forgotten eyeglasses?  

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Tokyo!  Hope you have a wonderful day everybody, wherever in the world you may be!

Ramen

For lunch today I had a bowl of delicious ramen noodles in Tokyo's Meguro Ward.  In the photos below I summarize how to acquire a bowl of ramen in Japan, taken from my experience today.  It's not as easy as you may think.  First, find a ramen bar, which either means you stumble across one facing the street or you search a building directory as in the photo below.  Next, find your ramen bar - if not facing the street it could be in the basement or way up on the 7th floor (mine was in the basement).  Next, put some yen into the machine and push the button for your ramen of choice and another button for any special toppings if you so desire.  Next, duck into the bar, find a stool, then give the ticket to a guy behind the counter and wait a few minutes for your ramen to appear!

Disney

The three of us spent Monday and Tuesday this week at Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea.  Both are located near Tokyo Bay in the southeastern part of the city.  Disneyland is more or less a replica of the same theme park in California but was nostalgic and tons of fun to experience again.  DisneySea is a whole different Disney experience - a sort of Disneyland for adults - with theme zones that recreate world port cities like New York and Venice, Mayan and Persian zones, and a huge mountain in the middle of the park that has a 20,000 Leagues under the Sea theme.  Both days were wonderful and we'll definitely go back in the future.

    

Plum blossoms

I was out for a walk yesterday in Umegaoka and came across plum trees in bloom along a pedestrian walkway.  In bloom in early December?  What??  I knew that plum trees bloom earlier than cherry trees (a seasonal event often written about by the great Japanese haiku masters) but these December blossoms kind of baffled me.  Cherry trees typically start blooming in March or February in Japan (and along BC's coast) and I was under the impression that plum trees bloom in February or January at the earliest.

And what's more, it was cold enough to snow in Tokyo in November, marking the first November snowfall in 54 years and also the first November snow-on-ground measurement since 1875 - the Meiji era!  So these plum trees have already had to contend with unusually early winter weather.  But, December has been warm with a few days pushing close to 20 degrees Celsius.  Just warm enough I guess...

Samurai winter

I saw this awesome weather forecast graphic on cable TV in Japan a few days ago.  It features a samurai over the Sea of Japan blowing cold air into the country.  If you look closely at the samurai's helmet, you'll notice it displays the Kanji character for winter, which is read as 'fuyu' in Japanese.  This winter samurai figure could be Japan's equivalent of Old Man Winter or Jack Frost, don't you think?

Gonpachi / Kill Bill

On my birthday, Neko treated me to dinner at a restaurant called Gonpachi, located in the Roppongi area of Tokyo.  This is the restaurant that inspired Quentin Tarantino in creating his setting for the restaurant fight scene in Kill Bill Volume One.  Remember Beatrix Kiddo taking on O-ren Ishii and the Crazy 88s?

It definitely feels like you're walking into the film the moment you enter the building, despite the filming not being done on location.  It's large and cavernous, in Edo-style with dark wood and bamboo. We had bar seats facing the grill area.  The food, mostly izakaya fare, was quite good for the most part.  The highlights were the many grilled skewers of meat and vegetables and gingko nuts, the taro salad, and the sake.

Upon leaving the restaurant, you pass by a wall of photos of musicians and politicians who've dined at Gonpachi in the past. Stephen Harper was one of them!

   

  

Shinjuku

I've posted about parks, shrines, and temples so far... so in this post I thought I'd share some architecture and city scenes of Shinjuku.  These photos were taken two days ago on a day trip with Neko and Emi.  There are many different aspects to this area of Tokyo and I barely touch the surface here.  For Emi the highlight was crawling on the soft, dry grass in Shinjuku Gyouen.

And, now, it's the tenth of December... a special day!  We are going to a different part of Tokyo for dinner tonight.  Does anybody remember the Edo-style restaurant in Kill Bill Volume 1 where the massive fight scene takes place?  Well, it's called Gonpachi and is an actual restaurant in the Roppongi area of Tokyo.  That's where we're going!  
 

 

Todoroki Ravine

Today I went to the Todoroki nature park, which is in a lush ravine that carries a small river that eventually feeds into the much bigger and wider Tama River that separates Setagaya from Kawasaki.  It is a bit of a secret spot and seems to only attract locals.  It took two train transfers to get there from our place in central Setagaya.

As for trains, I will definitely write about the Tokyu-Setagaya line in a future blog entry.  This is the train line that services our neighbourhood.  It has a bit of feel of old Showa era Japan.  On its small quiet trains you can stand up front beside the operator and watch them man the levers and controls.

It's much colder in Tokyo now.  A cold front arrived yesterday and ushered in much drier, chillier air and gusty winds.  It's no longer T-shirt weather.  Bundled up today!  

 

Goutoku-ji

I went for a long morning walk with Emi yesterday and we stumbled upon Goutoku-ji, a Buddhist temple and grounds with numerous structures including a pagoda. To me, it was a neat find on the edge of my new neighbourhood. But, I soon learned that the temple attracts its fair share of visitors to see the 'maneki neko' or 'beckoning cat' porcelain figures that welcome visitors with one paw raised. There are thousands of them in different sizes. Bizarre!

The weather here has been beautiful so far. Clear, dry, and warm with daytime highs hitting up to 18 degrees Celsius. The only rain we've had was during the night on one night only. Many trees are still displaying their autumn colours as fall lasts much longer here than in Canada.